Deities: Lord Ganesha

Om Shri Ganeshaya Namah 

Salutations to Sri Ganesh. He is seen as the master who removes all obstacles  (Vinayaka/ Vighnaharta/ Vighneshwaraya) and leads to prosperity and success (Riddhi/Siddhi who are also known as his wives). Lord Ganesha stands for wisdom and ability to distinguish between good and evil with big ears and keen eyes that take in all knowledge and make him so learned. He is said to focus on learning having mastered desires represented by the mouse that Ganesha had made into his vehicle. His arms hold a rope to pull devotees towards the truth, an axe to sever worldly ties, a modak (sweet) as the fruit for devotion and a blessing for all those who pray to him. Ganesha is pleased with an offer of modaks and durvas (bundles of green grass) both of which are easily possible for all devotees. He is also known as Ganapati, the leader of ‘Ganas’ (Lord Shiva’s attendants).

Stories

Ganesha is the son of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati created to fight demons when requested by the other devas and their Guru Brihaspati as per the Linga Purana. More commonly known story is that of Parvati creating a son out of love for Shiva and dipping him in the Ganga River to give him life as Ganapati. The Shiva purana describes Ganapati as Parvati’s creation to be entirely devoted to her and to protect her. So much so that when Parvati was bathing, Ganapati was holding guard and unknowingly prevented his own father Shiva entry to see Parvati. In rage, Shiva cut off his head. Then to pacify Parvati he sent his attendants to find the head of the first living thing they came across, which happened to be a baby elephant. Thus Ganesha came to have an elephant’s head.

One story narrates how Ganapati broke one of his tusks to kill the demon Gajamukhasura. Another describes that when Veda Vyasa requested Ganesha’s help to write the Mahabharata epic, Ganesha broke one of his tusks and used it as a pen to write the story on rock. When Ganapati laid the condition that Ved Vyas must dictate the entire Mahabharata without interruptions, the wise sage had to match Ganapati’s wit by asking him to write each line only after comprehending it in order to get enough time to compose the verses. Yet another tale describes his fight with lord Parasurama and the loss of the tusk during this battle. Ganesha is also known as ‘Ekadanta’ (lord with one tusk) as a result.

He is said to have used his big mouth and pot belly to humble the pride of Kuber, the lord of wealth. Once when Kuber held a party to show off his new palace and wealth to all present, Ganesha went to the party and asked for food. Kuber arrogantly offered him delicacies of the party. But Ganesha never stopped eating. After eating all the food, and all the riches and the palace itself with all its wealth, his appetite was still not satiated and thus in the end Ganesha made Kuber realize his folly of arrogance and ate Kuber’s pride. 

Temples

The Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati temple in Mumbai is one of the most popular temples for lord Ganesha. Also popular with devotees is a pilgrimage to pray in eight other temples of Maharashtra which is known as the Ashtavinayak yatra (eight Ganesha’s pilgrimage). The Ganapatipule temple in Konkan, Maharashtra is formed around a self-manifested stone image (Swayambhu image) of Ganesha.  In Rajasthan’s Ranathambhore, there is a unique temple of Trinetra (three eyed) Ganesha which traditionally receives the first wedding invitation from families all over. The Karpaga Vinayakar Temple in Pillaiyarpatti, Tamil Nadu is a very popular Ganesha temple in south India named due to the black idol carved from the rock against which the temple is set..